Gaper Fools Day

Gaper Fool's Day is one of the holiday's here in Jackson Hole has become a cult classic. Every April 1st Jackson Hole Mountain Resort goes from being a place for hard core's to celebrity's, to being a place filled with gapers and fools.

This year all of the Jackson locals did not disappoint! Everyone in town came out of the woodwork in full costume. There were lumber jacks, hockey players, Mormon Polygamists, big business executives, Prom dresses and more colorful one-pieces than you have ever seen in your life. And luckily for us, there was even fresh snow!

It was a blistery day on the mountain, but well worth the festivities. Our clan went as a group of Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, with one husband and five wives. We dressed Pat Spaniger up and his harem followed him around the mountain. We started with a Tram run to the top and all dispersed throughout the hill. A few of us made it to the party at the top of Thunder Bumps where we participated in the "Noon Moon," where about 20 people mooned the 12 o'clock tram. After that it was on! We all flowed down the mountain, with our skirts trailing in the wind; they would spin when we would spin and they would fly up when we hit jumps, and Spaniger's hat flew off a cliff near Tower 3.

The snow was incredible on Gaper Day and we rode until the mountain closed, being as it was one of the best powder day's of the season. However by the end of it, my skirt was frozen to a bell shape and it was time to change. The harem then relocated to Nick Wilson's where the festivities commenced. We met up with our other "Sister Wives" and our "Husband" Pat where we rocked bouffant hairstyles and conservative dresses. The costumes were so convincing that people honestly thought we were religious people who just happened to show up for the Gaper debauchery.

The fun lasted well into the evening and it was a great farewell for my best friend Kara Hawker. She was leaving us in The Hole to move onto a bigger and brighter future in Texas. Our times in Jackson were incredible and there is no one I would have rather shared them with. Enjoy your journey Sis! And we will be waiting for your return in Jackson.

Teewinot to the Tram

This season I worked in temperatures between -20 and -30 degrees F at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and rode some of the sickest lines of my life. With 4100 vertical feet at my disposal I had plenty of terrain to choose from. Pillow lines, to cliff drops, rock slashes and tree jibs, tree runs, to jump lines, or half pipe or tram line. Soooo many options, sooo little time.

I spent 111 days on the slopes this season and 105 of them were spent at JHMR, where I also worked as a Lift Operator on Teewinot. For those of you who don’t know, Teewinot is the “mother ship” of all Jackson Hole lifts. You scoff because you may think it is the world renown Tram; but no… Teewinot is where it is at. People learning, gapers falling, children crying, babies backpacks, snowboards broken, poles stuck, helmet draggers, riding bullwheels and “Ohhh NO a ski schooler just fell off at tower 2!”

Aside from all of the child chucking and chicken herding we managed to shralp JHMR to a pulp. Each day I was paid to spend two and a half hours riding with my friends and co-workers. We hucked cliffs, poached powder and straight lined groomers, all while on the clock. We worked long days but JHMR rewarded us for our dedication to make Jackson one of the best resorts in the world.